Maya Soetoro-Ng

Teacher

Female

BornAug 15, 1970

Age44

HometownJakarta

ReligionBuddhism

Alma MaterNew York Universi...

Other NamesSoetoro-Ng, Maya

EthnicityIndonesian-American

Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng is the maternal half-sister of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States. She was previously a high school history teacher and university instructor in Hawaii.

children

News + Updates

' Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng holding her Aloha Peace Prize HILO, Hawaii – The inaugural Aloha Peace Prize was bestowed on Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng by the United Nations Association of the Big Island on Saturday.
Well known through-out Hawaii as the sister of President Barack Obama, Soetoro-Ng is also known for her role in the non-profit “Our Public School” and “Ceeds of Peace” teaching curriculum. The Big Island’s United Nations A...

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* Roberts reads the oath closely from a card * Short, private ceremony for Obama * Close family members in attendance By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - This time they got it right. President Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts, who flubbed the oath of office in a public inauguration ceremony four years ago, made it through without mistakes on Sunday at a private gathering that lau...

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Gay politicians, countless shout-outs to the LGBT community, rainbow flags waving: This week''s Democratic National Convention might as well have been a Pride parade. And in some ways it was: More than any other national political gathering in American history, the 2012 DNC was a celebration of LGBT equality in America and within a party that has come to view the issue as a political winner.
More than a dozen speakers touted President Obama''s record on LGBT rights over the thre...

Timeline

Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Maya Soetoro-Ng.

CHILDHOOD

1970Birth
Born on August 15, 1970.

19809 Years Old
After her parents divorced in 1980, her father remarried.
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From this marriage, Soetoro-Ng has another half-brother, Yusuf Aji Soetoro (b. 1981), and a half-sister, Rahayu Nurmaida Soetoro (b. 1984). Read Less

198110 Years Old
While living in Indonesia, she was home schooled by her mother and then attended Jakarta International School from 1981 to 1984.

TEENAGE

198817 Years Old
Like her older half-brother, Soetoro-Ng returned to Hawaii and attended the private Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, graduating in 1988.
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She is an alumna of Barnard College (1993) in Manhattan, New York. She received an M.A. degree in secondary language studies and an M.A. degree in English from New York University and a PhD degree (2006) in international comparative education from the University of Hawaii.<br /><br /> Soetoro-Ng has often spoken warmly about her relationship with her older half-brother, which she says has remained strong even though they have often lived far apart. As adults, they have often celebrated Christmas in Hawaii, and savor the time they spend with their families together. Read Less

TWENTIES

She is working on a book about peace education and conflict resolution in high schools. <br /><br />She was a high-school history teacher at La Pietra: Hawaii School for Girls and the Education Laboratory School, both in Honolulu, Hawaii. She also taught night classes at the University of Hawaii. Read Less

She previously taught and developed curriculum at The Learning Project, an alternative public middle school in New York City, from 1996–2000.

THIRTIES

200332 Years Old
In 2003 Maya married Konrad Ng (Simplified Chinese: 吴加儒), a Chinese Canadian from Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
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Her husband, who is of Chinese Malaysian descent, now also a US citizen, is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii's Academy of Creative Media. They have two daughters, Suhaila and Savita. Konrad Ng became the scholar-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific American Program in 2009.<br /><br /> Soetoro-Ng has described herself as "philosophically Buddhist". She is fluent in Indonesian, Spanish, and English. Read Less

200736 Years Old
In May 2007, Soetoro-Ng announced that she would assist Obama in his campaign for President, and took two months off to campaign for him.

200837 Years Old
Soetoro-Ng participated in the 2008 Democratic National Convention where she spoke briefly about growing up with her brother and brought an Asian-American presence to the stage.
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Soetoro-Ng also spoke briefly about the Obama administration's accomplishments at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 4, 2012, sharing the podium with First Lady Michelle Obama's older brother and Oregon State University men's basketball team head coach, Craig Robinson. Read Less

200938 Years Old
In 2009 Soetoro-Ng helped bring her mother's dissertation to publication in the form of the book Surviving against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia.
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She wrote a foreword to the book and participated in its launch at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Most recently, she was an Education Specialist at the East West Center and an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawai'i College of Education.<br /><br /> Soetoro-Ng's doctoral research at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu focused on Comparative International Education, and involved a study comparing an international school in Indonesia where she taught, and a school in New York. She particularly looked at qualitative differences, interviewing students, staff, and other people involved in the two schools. Read Less

FORTIES

201140 Years Old
Soetoro-Ng authored a children's book, Ladder to the Moon, that was inspired by her mother and her daughter, Suhaila; it was published in 2011.